About this project

CA$ 17,609

551

100% FUNDED IN LESS THAN 30 HOURS, THANK YOU! We've added some stretch goals (scroll about halfway down the page), LET'S DO THIS!

UPDATE 3-18: Stretch Goal #1 FUNDED!

UPDATE 3-19: GREENLIT on Steam!

UPDATE 3-22: New Stretch Goal Unlocked!

UPDATE 4-5: Stretch Goal #2 FUNDED!

UPDATE 4-6: New Stretch Goals Added!

UPDATE 4-7: Stretch Goal #3 FUNDED!

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By popular demand, we've added a Paypal option. Please only donate this way if you have to, as it's harder for us to keep track of rewards! Funding receive directly won't show up in our total amount listed, but we'll post updates manually every 24 hours.

Current total: $18,030

Kickstarter + Paypal – Total updated April 7 at 8:30pm EDT

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Pro Wrestling X is a 3D wrestling game being developed for the PC, Mac and Linux platforms. While our gameplay is a love letter to the AKI classics of the Nintendo 64 era, WCW/nWo Revenge and WWF No Mercy, we'll take full advantage of current game engine technology.

We hope to deliver a gaming experience that looks modern but feels fun and familiar. A game made by wrestling fans, for wrestling fans.

Alpha footage of Pro Wrestling X's grapple system in action. And because it's an FAQ: yes, the heads-up display can be turned off. :-)

Our mission with Pro Wrestling X is clear and attainable:

Focus on simple-but-deep gameplay mechanics that are FUN!

Build a game that's open and moddable. Give PC gamers the freedom and tools to create and share new content.

Create a wrestling game platform that evolves and grows – and never goes backwards.

The ultimate goal: the fun of WWF No Mercy + the depth of Fire Pro Wrestling.

Give love and respect to pro wrestling for the memories it has given us.

Brand-new character art and models have already been created for Pro Wrestling X. American Grasshopper (left) and the redesigned Tirador.

A bit of history

With our first Kickstarter attempt, our goals were completely different and a lot more ambitious. We needed a full-blown art and animation reboot, and our game engine required a ton of updates.

When our campaign failed to get funded, we took a leap of faith and released what we had: the project's first official game, Uprising. Incredibly, the best fans in the world saw the potential in an admittedly rough game, and their financial support got us the reboot we badly needed.

Thanks to our supporters, we're developing on a new engine, we have new development tools, and we've been able to hire additional team members. The new crew have taken our humble project to an amazing new level.

A before-and-after look at the improvements between our first release, Uprising (left) and the alpha of Pro Wrestling X. Animations are more accurate, and the graphics have much more detail.

What you are backing

With our current Kickstarter, many of our tech hurdles are behind us. Now we can focus on gameplay – we'll build the best game we can for the funds we can raise. At $6,400, we're starting with a modest goal to build a modest game:

If we're fortunate enough to hit our target, we'll add more functionality in the form of stretch goals. Our initial priority will be perfecting the grapple scheme and making things fun to play. With enough funding, we can start tackling our dream feature list – special match modes, environments and deep character customization.

We have a lot of items on our "Wrestling Game Dream Feature List." A scaffold match – the first of its kind in a wrestling game – and the obligatory cell-type cage match are just two ideas.

Stretch Goals

You funded us in less than 30 hours, but we're not done by any means. We've got stretch goals ready, let's do this!

12K FUNDED! – OLD BLUE – Bring the blue steel cage to Pro Wrestling X! Old-school wrestling fans fondly remember the distinctive blue bars of this menacing structure. In wrestling video game lore, the cage was made most famous in WWF Wrestlefest, and you better believe we want to include it in Pro Wrestling X!

16K FUNDED – INTERNATIONAL OBJECTS – Weapons! Ah, the 80s. Ted Turner was expanding his media empire, becoming a global powerhouse. The word "foreign" was banned, so as to not offend global customers. The result: the absurd phrase "international object", describing a weapon used in the squared circle.

Current Stretch Goal: $20,000

FUNDED! A New Challenger – It's time we add to the roster – and it will be the choice of the backers as to who gets in. Is it a reboot of one our classic characters? Maybe someone brand new? Totally up to you.

30 Feet in the Air – To the best of our knowledge, a classic match type from the 1980s – the scaffold match – has never appeared in a wrestling video game. If we hit $20K, that's gonna change. And yes – we can't wait to throw someone off it either!

Let's get to the fun stuff: REWARDS!

To thank you for your generosity, we've got a lot of great rewards. Many are self-explanatory, here's a bit more detail on the others:

EARLY BIRD REWARD (COMPLETED) – Support Pro Wrestling X within the first 64 hours of the campaign at ANY LEVEL, and you'll take part in the recording of the in-game full crowd chants. You'll get credit as a Voice Talent, live on in the game FOREVER!

REWARD TO ALL BACKERS – All backers of the campaign at ANY LEVEL will receive the Pro Wrestling X Shoot Podcast, a tell-all interview covering the good, the bad, and the ugly history of Pro Wrestling X.

Get your own voice in the game! – The voices of our early-bird backers will be combined to make a full crowd chant. This is your chance to record your own individual crowd taunt/cheer that will play randomly during gameplay.

T-shirt + keepsake box – Long-time fans know shirts have a storied history with the project; it only seems right to mark our Kickstarter with one. We'll throw in a nice keepsake box you'll be proud to show your friends.

Calacas figure – How cool is this? A one-of-a-kind hand-made Tirador Mexican wrestling figure, created by Mel, the original designer of Pro Wrestling X's signature character.

Free games for life – It's the least we can do for a high level of support. Any games or expansions we ever make, they're yours.

Championship belt – Of all the reward tiers, this one is probably the most drool-worthy. You'll get a physical Pro Wrestling X championship belt designed by Jesse Justice and produced by Top Rope Belts.

Example belts designed by Jesse Justice and produced by Top Rop Belts. (We probably ought to be clear, you can't have one of these belts...)

Our future looks bright

It's been a wild ride since the project's inception, but we're really excited for the future of Pro Wrestling X. Our release of Uprising was more successful than we could have ever imagined, and the new art and technology has given the project a big lift.

We've also been steadily rising the ranks for Steam Greenlight – we're sitting comfortably in the top 100. With a successful Kickstarter, we anticipate being among the next games considered for release.

EDIT 3-19-14: WE DID IT! GREENLIT ON STEAM!

We're going to keep working hard to deliver what we hope is the successor to all the great wrestling video games of the Nintendo 64 generation. During our last Kickstarter, we received this message out of nowhere:

"I'm very happy to make a donation for this. Best of luck as always and hope to see this come to completion!" – Producer of WWF No Mercy, Sanders Keel

UPDATE: Aaaaaand he backed us again :-)

If that's a passing of the torch, we happily accept.

To our fans: Thank you SO MUCH

For those who have been with us from the start – and for those who are hearing about us for the first time – we can't thank you enough for your belief in us. We hope we get the opportunity to make you proud, and we're not going to quit until we do.

In the meantime and in-between time,

Dave Wishnowski – Founder + Producer + Designer + Toilet Scrubber

Eric Schmidt – Website Nerd + Social Media + Graphic Design

Alex Kola – Art + Animation + Graphic Design

Will Adam – Programming

Risks and challenges

TECHNOLOGY – Building a video game is a massive risk. Many games fail to be completed because of unforeseen technical challenges. We've been able to mitigate these risks by moving to an industry-standard game engine.

We've also learned from previous mistakes: no more rookies. Each member of the team is a seasoned veteran of their respective fields and industries.

Key positions are also big fans of wrestling and wrestling video games. This is so important. We've discovered building a wrestling game is almost nothing like making a first-person-shooter or RPG. Wrestling games are unique and intricate in their own way, and the fun is in the details – details only a wrestling fan can know.

MANPOWER – We're a small team, each member performing a critical job. If any one of us gets hit by a bus, it could delay development (and make the other team members quite sad). We are reducing this risk as much as possible by making sure documentation is maintained, allowing new people to step in and take over if need be with minimal confusion and guesswork.

Also, we avoid buses.

Tragedies aside, we've already faced – and overcome – a myriad of crazy challenges. Your support will back a crew that has never quit. Ever. Long periods without money. Near-death experiences. Nearly finished games that had to be scrapped through no fault of our own.

FAQ

What's cool about Kickstarter: you can change your amount any time until the project due date. You can add funds, change reward tiers, anything like that all the way up to the deadline. You can do this by looking under the main dollar figure, and clicking Manage My Pledge.

There's no need to delete your current pledge in order to change it to something new. If you change amounts, you don't have to do the math to get to the new tier ("how much do I need to add to get to $150?") – the number you type is what you'll be charged, and only if we hit our goal amount.

We can't thank our supporters enough for their support since the inception of the project. It's the only reason we're still standing.

In the past year, we built our Hero List, the result of a full-scale audit of our transaction history. We know precisely who's backed us, when they did it, how much they have given, and what they are owed.

All backers for our current Kickstarter will be cross-checked against this database, and if you supported us before, we'll make sure you're taken care of appropriately.

While our crew is scattered all over North America, the Pro Wrestling X project is headquartered in Lethbridge... Alberta, Canada. As a result, our project is based on Canadian funds.

If you're from the United States, the Canadian dollar is worth about 90% of a U.S. dollar. Translation: reward tiers are actually cheaper for Americans. There's a Canadian-to-USD converter on Google: https://www.google.com/search…

Support this project

Select this reward

Pledge CA$ 15 or more
About $14

More fun than a coconut to the skull, it's a digital download of Pro Wrestling X! We'll throw in some desktop wallpapers just for fun. Credit in-game as a Kickstarter backer + Pro Wrestling X Shoot Podcast.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge CA$ 150 or more
About $136

All these digital things are great, but wouldn't it be awesome to have something REAL to actually hold in your hands? Got you covered. In addition to the digital goods, we'll ship you a KEEPSAKE BOX + T-SHIRT.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge CA$ 500 or more
About $452

Get all the previous goods, of course. But we'll throw in a special item, something fans of WWF No Mercy will know as one of the most valuable items in the Smackdown Mall: THE $500 SHIRT. Trust us, it will be worth every penny.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge CA$ 1,000 or more
About $904

OK, rich guy. You could have paid a kid to dribble a basketball 10 times (and kicked the ball at bounce #9) for your own amusement. Instead, you gave the money to us. As a reward, character designer Mel will send you an *awesome* calacas figure (see example pics in the description). (PLEASE SEE SHIPPING DETAILS ON THIS PAGE.)